[Golf Rules... Knowledge is Power] It’s ‘OK’ to Lift the Ball Out of a Bunker

Golf has no referees. It is a "gentleman's sport" where golfers play by following the rules themselves. The golf rules are "assistants" created to help with play. If well understood and properly used, they can greatly aid in score management. These are golf rules that weekend golfers must know.

William Mow

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William Mouw, a rookie on the U.S. Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) Tour, was thoroughly beaten by a bunker. On the 17th (local time) at the Pete Dye Stadium Course (par 72, 7,210 yards) in La Quinta, California, USA, during the second round of the American Express (total prize money $8.8 million), he collapsed on the 16th hole (par 5, 600 yards). He made an "octuple bogey," taking a staggering 13 strokes to hole out. He lost 8 strokes on a single hole. The Stadium Course is a work of Pete Dye, notorious for its design that torments players. Especially, the bunker on the 16th hole where Mouw struggled is so overwhelmingly high that it has earned the nickname "San Andreas Fault."

The 16th hole has a threatening bunker on the left side of the green with a lip height reaching 5.4 meters. Mouw's ball got stuck there, and the game went awry. He hit a good tee shot onto the fairway, but his second shot landed in the problematic bunker. To escape from the extremely high bunker, he hit strongly, and the ball flew over the green and landed on the slope on the opposite side. His fourth shot again went over the green and into the bunker. Mouw failed to escape the bunker with his fifth and sixth shots as well.

His seventh shot failed in power control and fell back onto the opposite slope. The eighth shot seemed to reach the green but rolled and went into the bunker on the opposite side again. Mouw's ninth shot landed the ball on the fairway, and the tenth shot rolled off the green. After his eleventh shot landed the ball on the green, he finally got out of the 16th hole with two putts. Mouw said, "When something like this happens, you just have to laugh it off," and added, "I will use this adversity as a driving force for my career."

Is it possible to get out of the bunker when escape seems impossible? According to the rules revised in 2019, it is possible. Previously, when declaring the ball unplayable, even with a one-stroke penalty, the drop had to be made within the bunker. However, if an additional penalty is accepted, the ball can be dropped outside the bunker. When declaring the ball unplayable in a bunker, a two-stroke penalty is incurred, and the player may drop outside the bunker and continue play. Relief is taken behind the reference line directly behind the original ball's position, in the relief area outside the bunker determined by that line.

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